


Even The Sun's Happy

by ivorydice



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, De-Aged Noctis, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Let The Boys Have Fun, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-05-16 09:12:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14808453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivorydice/pseuds/ivorydice
Summary: When a daemon hunt goes wrong, Noctis ends up transformed into a kid. The guys have to take care of him until he turns back.





	Even The Sun's Happy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Culoniforsx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Culoniforsx/gifts).



> EDIT: Now that the anonymity has been lifted, I've left some extra notes at the end of this fic.

  
  
Something was prodding at his shoulder.  
  
Noctis groaned in annoyance, trying to bat the thing away, and he shifted closer to the warmth beside him, hoping to drift off again. He was sinfully warm and comfortable, he had somehow managed to find the best sleeping position, and he’d be damned if he was letting it go now.  
  
The thing prodded him again.  
  
Noctis shoved at it. “Stop,” he slurred.  
  
A sigh from beside him. “Noct. Come on.”  
  
“No.”  
  
The prodding started up once more, on the top of his head this time, annoying and insistent as it moved down to his cheek. Fingers pinched his skin there, pulling on it, and Noctis groaned again.  
  
“We need to get up,” Prompto said. “It’s late. The day’s a-wastin’.”  
  
“Time s’it?”  
  
A pause. “Seven-thirty.”  
  
Noctis groaned for a third time. “It’s _not_ late,” he said, and he pushed himself closer to the body lying next to him under the blankets, curling an arm around it. He hooked his ankle around Prompto’s, buried his face in the side of his neck, and settled back down.  
  
Prompto snorted in amusement. “Come on, bud,” he said. “We’ve got stuff to do. Gladio and Ignis are hoping we can find a new job sometime today.”  
  
“Then _you_ get up and help them.”  
  
“I _can’t_ ,” Prompto chuckled again, “There’s this giant octopus clinging to me and keeping me in bed. A _Noct_ opus.”  
  
Noctis smirked, but he didn’t bother opening his eyes. “That’s too bad. Guess we gotta sleep some more then.” He pressed his face against Prompto’s sleep-warm skin. How was it that _everything_ always felt so warm and comfortable when he woke up in the morning?  
  
“ _Noct_ ,” Prompto whined, but there was a hand travelling into Noctis’s hair and stroking through it gently, scritching at his scalp. “Gladio said the next time he caught us sleeping in he’ll dunk our heads in toilet.”  
  
It was true, and Noctis didn’t doubt that he would at least try. The flaw in his plan, of course, was that he could only dunk one at a time, and Noctis sure as hell wouldn’t be the one with his head down a toilet. “Yeah, well,” he said out loud, “I’m the boss, and I say he can’t.”  
  
“But _Noct_ —”  
  
Noctis sighed. “Okay, _fine_ , I’m awake. _God_.” He pushed himself up on his elbows, opening his eyes to glare blearily down at Prompto.  
  
Prompto was smirking up at him, amused. “Your bed hair is the cutest thing.”  
  
Noctis rolled his eyes, huffed out, “Do _not_.”  
  
“It’s just—it’s _everywhere_ , dude. What _happened_ to it?”  
  
Noctis huffed again, earning himself another chuckle. Prompto leaned his head up then, brushing his hand through Noctis’s hair to pull him closer for a kiss.  
  
And Noctis was still feeling so cozy, so comfortable, with the early morning sunlight streaming in through the motel window and the occasional sounds of cars and trucks passing by. The day was already under way for a lot of people, even if it _was_ the stupidest time to be getting up, but he wasn’t ready to let this go just yet. He pulled at Prompto, tugging on him until they were rolling back over with him on top.  
  
Prompto settled himself on top of him, arms on either side of his head, resting on the pillows. He was smiling again, amused, giving him soft, slow kisses until—  
  
“Hey, wait,” Prompto broke away and glared down at him. “You _tricked_ me. We’re supposed to be getting up.”  
  
Noctis grinned up at him. “Well, I guess that’s one way to put it.”  
  
“God, you’re as bad as Gladio,” Prompto groaned, and he turned his head, avoiding Noctis’s lips as he tried to kiss him again. “Nope, we can’t, we will not, this isn’t the place—”  
  
“We’ve got the room to ourselves,” Noctis pointed out, nodding his head towards the other, empty bed, already straightened out and tidied.  
  
“Yeah, and the door’s _unlocked_. Gladio could come in any moment to slam dunk our heads down the toilet.”  
  
Noctis snorted. “Well then, we’d better hurry.” He quirked his eyebrow, giving Prompto a small smirk, and that seemed to be it for him. Prompto was rolling his eyes, his lips twitching into a smile, and he leaned back down, settling his weight on top of Noctis and pressing him into the bed as he kissed him a little firmer.  
  
Of course, Gladio chose that exact moment to slam open the motel door and yell out, “I knew it! You little horndogs—”  
  
Prompto yelped, breaking away and rolling off of Noctis, running straight for the bathroom and locking the door behind him even as Noctis called out, “Traitor! I’ll get you back for this!”  
  
“I’m sorry!” Prompto called back, voice muffled behind the door. “I just really don’t want my head dunked!”  
  
Noctis bit back a curse and sat up, glaring at Gladio when he noticed his smirk. “ _Okay_ , I’m up already!”  
  
“Yeah, I bet you are,” Gladio shot back.  
  
“Actually, no, because _someone_ interrupted us.”  
  
Gladio rolled his eyes. “Yeah, whatever. Hurry up in the shower after he’s done. We’ve wasted enough time.”  
  
Noctis grabbed his phone off the bedside table, checking the display. _7:45._ “How?” Noctis asked, exasperated. “We’ve literally got the _whole_ day ahead of us.”  
  
“Yeah, tell that to Ignis. He already thinks it’s late.”  
  
Of _course_ he did. Ignis, who was always up at the crack of dawn - maybe even before, did he ever actually sleep? - and would have already downed a can or two of Ebony, impatient to get the day started. If he considered _this_ to be late, Noctis had to wonder what he thought of the later hours of the morning. Early afternoon, maybe? The day mostly gone?  
  
Still, he knew how much Ignis hated to stay still and unproductive, so he did hurry as best as he could. However, by the time Noctis had finished showering and dressing, heading out of their motel room and over to where Ignis was standing just outside the diner, they apparently already had a new job to do.  
  
“You’re kidding,” Noctis said flatly. “I thought you wanted us to come out and help.”  
  
Ignis raised his eyebrows and took a sip from his can. “Yes, well, as it turns out, I just happened to find one during the long wait.”  
  
“Long wait! Hey—”  
  
Prompto had taken the paper from Gladio’s hands, and he was staring down at their new bounty with trepidation. “A lamia?” he said. “Dude. Guys. This thing looks _huge_ , this is like—this is a _monster_. Can we even do this job?”  
  
Ignis had that look on his face, that annoying blend of smugness and amusement, only a hint of it showing past a professional mask. Like the time he had managed to trick Noctis into doing his homework when he was ten, instead of delaying it a little longer in favour of the icecream and cartoon show he had wanted to watch instead.  
  
“Well,” Ignis said, “if you had wanted an easier job, then perhaps you shouldn’t have slept in and you could have assisted us in picking something closer to your preferences and comfort.”  
  
Oh, _oh_ , he was so going to pay for this. He had chosen a daemon hunt, something they would have to wait around _all day_ for, and Noctis had basically been dragged out of bed for nothing now. What, was this just to spite him? He wouldn’t put it past Ignis, _or_ Gladio for that matter.  
  
The day was wasting, yeah _right_. Now they would have to waste the day in preparation for the night.  
  
Noctis glared at Ignis, ignoring the way Gladio was beginning to chuckle off to the side, the pair of them _unbelievably_ smug about the whole thing. He took the flyer from Prompto, staring down at the picture for a moment. “No problem,” he said, tossing it back to Ignis with a smirk. “Piece of cake, actually. I could do this with my eyes closed.”  
  
Ignis held up his can in a mock toast. “Well then, to the battle ahead.”  
  
  
  
-  
  
  
  
He could, in fact, not do it with his eyes closed. He actually needed every sense honed and ready, prepared to dodge out of the way of attacks, the giant tail amazingly quick for its size. And _powerful_ too, it had smashed up a boulder bigger than all of them put together - and with Gladio’s size, that was saying something - and Noctis would rather not have that thing slamming into him at any time. Especially since the tip of it looked sharp and dangerous and like it could skewer them.  
  
The daemon might have been tough, but the bounty was a good one, he’d give it that much. A lamia, a seemingly one of a kind daemon near the coast of Galdin Quay, it was giant, with an _almost_ passable female body emerging from the snake tail, scales running up her whole body, her face twisted and ugly. She screeched something awful, terrible noises that pierced through their heads and had them stumbling along.  
  
“I’m so sick of girl daemons!” Prompto cried out.  
  
“Come on, Prompto,” Gladio called. “Don’t be sexist.”  
  
“But why snakes? Why is it _always_ snakes?”  
  
Noctis came out of his warp, swinging his sword down, slicing the lamia right down her back. She screeched again, whipping around faster than she had any right to given her size, her tentacle-like hair smacking him straight in his chest and making him fly backwards.  
  
“Noct!” Ignis yelled.  
  
Noctis managed to turn his body mid-air, throwing his sword down to where the others were, emerging from the warp with a smirk in Ignis’s direction. “So _now_ you’re worried about me?”  
  
Ignis looked at him exasperatedly. “Just be _careful_.”  
  
“Yeah, yeah.”  
  
Noctis had to wince at the way the lamia screamed, and the sounds of rocks smashing to pieces whenever her webbed hands slammed into them. It was nearly the middle of the night and sounded _carried_ ; he just really hoped no one down at the Quay would hear this daemon crying out. The last thing they all needed was for anyone to start panicking.  
  
Still, she wasn’t _that_ tough, and he could tell that she was getting tired now, worn down and too injured to carry on for much longer. Of course, that was always a thing to look out for, a part of the fight where daemons would become _desperate_ to kill and to survive.  
  
So it shouldn’t have surprised him, really, when she let out a scream, turning towards Prompto at the edge of the fight. Noctis ran instantly, throwing his sword so that he could warp the distance, and he got there just in time, managed to forcefully shove Prompto out of the way, making him stumble and fall off to the side.  
  
Not a moment too soon either, as a strange spray of liquid shot out of the lamia’s mouth, hit Noctis right in his face and along his body, and he cried out, backing away, blinded by it and desperately trying to wipe it off. He could hear the others shouting for him, but he couldn’t answer, and his whole body felt _weird_ , it—  
  
Black.  
  
Sounds came in slowly. His head felt heavy and strange, like he was dizzy, and Noctis groaned. There were all kinds of noises going on, strange screaming, loud bangs, people yelling. It hurt his head too much and he wanted them all to stop.  
  
When he forced his eyes open, he gasped, his fingers clenching in the grass underneath him.  
  
The first thing he noticed were the giant boots his feet were sticking in, the huge black clothes that hung off him and swallowed him up, the big glove that his fingers were barely peeking out of.  
  
The second thing he noticed was that he had no idea where he was, and there was some sort of fight going on, just off to the side.  
  
“Noct?” someone was shouting. “Buddy? Are you— _oh_ my god.”  
  
Noctis could only stare up at the man in front of him, his heart hammering in his chest, feeling helpless and not knowing what to do. There were too many things going on, too much stuff happening, and _still_ there was that awful screaming. It didn’t sound right. He looked over, to the left of him and—  
  
Oh god, was that a _monster_ something? What was going _on_?  
  
“Prompto!” someone yelled. “C’mon, get your ass in gear! What’s the hold up?”  
  
“This—he—It’s Noct! He’s a kid!”  
  
“ _What?_ ” someone else shouted.  
  
Noctis bit his lip, brought his knees up to his chest, ready to stand, but he didn’t know what to do. Should he get up and run? Should he stay still? Should he hide? That thing looked _huge_ , especially with the men standing next to it, hacking away with their weapons. They could be knocked away any moment, and then it would come for _him_.  
  
One of the men moved away, quickly running up to Noctis and staring down at him with wide eyes. Then he barked out, “Prompto, get him out of here!”  
  
The other one, Prompto, looked up at him. “But what about you guys?”  
  
“We can handle this. Just get him out of here, he’s far too vulnerable like this.”  
  
Noctis could only gasp, not knowing what to do as Prompto came towards him. He picked Noctis up under his armpits, and Noctis couldn’t help the small squeak he made as the clothes started slipping down his legs. Prompto muttered a curse, managed to get the clothes back into place, leaving the boots and glove fallen on the ground, and then he was running with Noctis in his arms, and Noctis could only cling onto him. He wasn’t sure what to do. Should he try and fight, run away? They were _strangers_ , they might hurt him eventually—but he had no idea where he was, and they might still come after him if he tried to run now. Not to mention there was that monster still hanging around.  
  
So maybe if he didn’t put up much of a fight then they wouldn’t hurt him. Right?  
  
Noctis clung to Prompto, his arms and legs wrapped around him, and he watched as that strange monster grew smaller and smaller the further away they got. He bit his lip and kept quiet, kept as still as possible until they were finally coming to a stop. “Okay, here we go,” Prompto said. “Sweet safety.”  
  
He set Noctis down on weird rocks with glowing blue drawings. Noctis clung to his pants, trying to stop them from slipping down. His shoulders felt heavy with what he was wearing, a big heavy jacket that made him feel hot and smothered.  
  
Prompto knelt down in front of him, holding up three fingers. “Okay, bud, how’s your head? You took a pretty hard knock when you fell. How many fingers do you see?”  
  
Noctis frowned, looking down at his fingers. “Three,” he mumbled.  
  
“Okay, good,” Prompto grinned. “You feelin’ okay? Do you feel sick? Dizzy? Confused? I mean, I wouldn’t exactly blame ya. Getting turned into a kid must be a pretty wild experience. What’s it feel like?”  
  
What was he talking about? Noctis stared at him, not sure how to answer, and he clung to his clothes a little tighter.  
  
Prompto seemed to notice, his smile fading, eyes looking more concerned. “You—wait, you _do_ know who I am, right?”  
  
Noctis shook his head.  
  
“Damn it,” Prompto muttered. He looked away for a moment, squinting his eyes up at the dark area they had come from. Then he turned back and held his hand out towards Noctis. “Okay. Introductions. I’m Prompto, I’m a friend. I promise, you’re safe here.”  
  
Noctis stared down at the hand, wondering if he should take it or not. Just because he said he was a friend didn’t mean it was true.  
  
“Okay,” Prompto chuckled, “okay, you don’t believe me, I get that. Hold on, how about this.” He shoved his hand into his pocket, pulling out a phone, swiping through the menus until he eventually held it up so Noctis could squint at the screen. “Okay? I’m Crownsguard, see?”  
  
He was. Noctis recognised the Crownsguard ID his dad had made him look at over and over again so that he would remember what it looked like. It had Prompto’s picture, his name, and every little detail that showed he was part of the Crownsguard and worked for his family. Which meant Noctis could trust him.  
  
He let out a breath, no longer feeling that tingly feeling in his head and body that told him to run away as fast as he could. “Are—” he stared, then swallowed, still feeling a little nervous at the way Prompto was staring at him. “Those others—they’re Crownsguard too?”  
  
“Yup, they are,” Prompto nodded. “Their names are Ignis and Gladio.”  
  
“Ignis?” Noctis blinked. “I’ve got a friend called Ignis.”  
  
Prompto chuckled then, scratching at the side of his neck. “Yeah, you sure do. It’s, uhh...this is kinda hard to explain, okay?”  
  
“Okay,” Noctis said.  
  
“You see—”  
  
“Prompto!”  
  
Noctis tensed up at the new voices, leaning around Prompto to see the other two men coming towards them, jogging along. Their weapons were gone now, but that made sense. If they were Crownsguard, then they could use his dad’s magic, they could make their weapons appear and disappear into thin air.  
  
“Hey, did you kill it?” Prompto called over to them.  
  
“We sure did,” the biggest man said. He was staring down at Noctis with raised eyebrows. “Guess there’s no change here though, huh?”  
  
“Nope,” Prompto said. Then he leaned closer to Noctis, pointing at the big man and saying, “That’s Gladio. And that nerdy looking guy there is Ignis?”  
  
Ignis raised an eyebrow. “I do beg your pardon?”  
  
“Yup, see?” Prompto grinned at Noctis. “Nerdy.”  
  
Gladio was moving away, crouching down in front of a circle of rocks at the center of the giant stones they were standing on, and it only took him a moment or two before the small logs there were catching fire, the flames slowly growing and getting bigger. Noctis glanced around, noticing the other things for the first time, the chairs, the tent. Where were they?  
  
“I’m guessing he has no idea who we are then,” Ignis was saying. He had the big boots and glove Noctis had been wearing before in his hand, and he set them down beside one of the chairs.  
  
Prompto shrugged. “Guess not. He definitely didn’t recognise me. Haven’t gotten around to a full interrogation, you know?”  
  
Ignis nodded. “Very well. I should like to do the honours then.”  
  
“At least let the kid sit down first,” Gladio said. “Can’t be comfortable trying to hold onto his clothes like that.”  
  
“Yes, Noct, _do_ sit down, please.” Ignis touched his shoulder gently, trying to lead him to the chair he’d placed the boots next to, then raised an eyebrow at Noctis when he didn’t move. “What?”  
  
Noctis swallowed, then did as he was told, sitting down and drawing his legs up so he could hug them to his chest. “My dad calls me Noct,” he said, looking up at Ignis. “And my friend. He’s called Ignis too.”  
  
Ignis nodded, crouching down in front of him. “Alright then, let’s start with the basics, shall we? How old are you, Noct?”  
  
Noctis frowned. Shouldn’t they know this stuff, if they were working for his dad? It was pretty basic stuff and everyone in the Crownsguard seemed to know things about him even if he had never told them.  
  
Maybe these guys were new. He glanced up at Gladio, then over at Prompto, who was giving him a small smile and a thumbs up. He turned back to Ignis and said, “Eight.”  
  
“I thought as much,” Ignis nodded. “Tell me, what’s the last thing you remember?”  
  
Noctis tried to think about it, but everything seemed a little hazy. “I don’t know. Everything is all...blurry.”  
  
“That’s fine. Don’t worry about it too much.” He leaned back a little to look up at the other two. “Perhaps it’s something to do with the transformation itself, a disorientation technique of sorts.”  
  
Gladio sat in one of the other chairs. “Yeah, but how do we fix it?”  
  
“I’m not certain.” He turned back to Noctis then, pushing his glasses up his nose and watching him. “I must say, you don’t seem to be very frightened of us.”  
  
Noctis bit his lip, glancing up at Prompto. “He said you’re Crownsguard. He showed me his ID.”  
  
“Ah, yes, an excellent idea.” Ignis was then pulling his own phone out, Gladio doing the same over in his chair. “It never hurts to settle one’s worries about these sorts of things.”  
  
They both came closer and held up their own Crownsguard ID screens for him to stare at. He frowned at Gladio’s, noticing the ‘Amicitia’ on the end of his name. There was a sentence, underneath all the numbers and the stuff he didn’t understand, and it said he was the Shield to the Crown Prince. That was Noctis, but he didn’t have a Shield yet. Then again, his last name _was_ Amicitia, and that was the last name of his dad’s Shield.  
  
When he turned to Ignis’s, he found his eyes widening and his mouth dropping open. Ignis Scientia. It had his birthday listed and everything. But that didn’t make sense, because this was a grown up, it wasn’t the Ignis _he_ knew. Then again, as he frowned at him, as he took in the glasses and his face and his hairstyle, he _did_ look kind of familiar.  
  
Ignis seemed to notice, smiling a little at him. “Yes, I’m the same Ignis,” he said. “You call me ‘Iggy’ a lot of the time, although I still fail to understand why. It’s not exactly a shortened version of my name.”  
  
“It sounds funny,” Noctis mumbled. He squinted at Ignis. “You’re the same? You’re Ignis?”  
  
Ignis nodded, and when Noctis looked up at Gladio, he smirked and leaned back in his chair. “I’m your Shield. You might not know me yet, but you kne—know my father. Clarus Amicitia?”  
  
“My dad’s Shield,” Noctis murmured. “I don’t get it. What’s going on?”  
  
“You saw that monster snake lady, right?” Prompto said, coming to crouch down beside the chair. At Noctis’s nod, he continued, “Well, she did something to you, and it turned you into a kid. You’re actually supposed to be grown up like us.”  
  
Noctis scrunched his face up at him. Well _that_ sounded weird.  
  
Prompto snorted, grinning a little. “Yeah, don’t give me that look. It’s _true_.”  
  
“The question is,” Gladio said, “If killing the lamia didn’t work, then how do we get him back to normal? You know of any potion that will fix this?”  
  
Ignis shook his head. “Sadly, I’m as clueless as you are.” He stared at Noctis carefully, and it was such an  _Ignis_ look it made him shift in his chair uncomfortably. “Perhaps it’s a wait and see sort of thing. He could very well go back to normal overnight.”  
  
“Well, in that case, quit hovering around him and eyeing him like he’s a science experiment. Kid needs a breather.”  
  
Ignis shot him a glare, but he stood and Prompto got up to throw himself into one of the other chairs.  
  
“I suppose I should make us some supper anyway,” Ignis said.  
  
“Sounds good,” Gladio smirked.  
  
“Hell yeah!” Prompto said. “I’m _starving_. Fighting monsters is tough work.”  
  
Noctis watched them, resting his chin on top of his knees, taking in the way they carried on as if there wasn’t anything wrong. As if he apparently _wasn’t_ supposed to be a kid, but he _was_ a kid, and Ignis was all grown up and big and strong, and he had his own Shield now. It was weird, but at least he knew he could trust them. If they were Crownsguard, then they must have been telling him the truth about all of it. Why would they lie about something as silly as that?  
  
He looked around at their strange campsite on the rocks. The glowing lights were still there, crawling along the stone beneath them in strange shapes and symbols. He had never seen anything like it before. It looked magical, unreal even. When he looked up, he could see lights and strange looking buildings further in the distance. Things were moving there, looking like little people walking around.  
  
Where _were_ they? The rest of the land was dark, things hard to make out, but the most clear thing of all were the millions of stars above, and Noctis stared up at them with a small gasp. They were all so _pretty_ and so clear, he’d never seen them like that before.  
  
The others were still talking. Prompto was doing something on his phone, Ignis standing at a table and preparing food, Gladio sitting back in his chair and drinking from a bottle. They were chuckling at something, Noctis hadn’t been listening to what they were saying so he didn’t know what, but it made him smile a little to see.  
  
Eventually, Ignis came over to him with a plate of food. “Everything alright?”  
  
Noctis moved his legs so they were crossed underneath him, taking the plate and resting it in his lap. “Good,” he said, staring up at Ignis, wondering if he was allowed to ask. “Where are we?”  
  
“A place called Galdin Quay,” Ignis said as he sat in his own chair to the right, holding onto his own plate. “It’s a seaside resort.”  
  
Noctis couldn’t remember what a resort was, but the word ‘seaside’ was enough to grab his attention. “Seaside?” he repeated. “Like, a beach?”  
  
“A _beach_ , baby,” Prompto grinned, mouth half-full of food. “We sure had a lack of ‘em back in Insomnia, huh?”  
  
Noctis glanced between them all, then up at the sky above them. “We’re not in Insomnia?” he asked. He could feel a smile tugging on his lips. “We’re outside the Wall?”  
  
“We are,” Ignis nodded.  
  
“That’s so cool!” Noctis straightened up in his chair. “I’ve never been outside the Wall before!”  
  
Gladio was the first one to speak, frowning a little as he said, “You haven’t? Ever?”  
  
“Nope!” Noctis grinned. He leaned his head back again, letting out an amazed breath as he took in all the _land_ , the space, the _seaside resort_ over in the distance, because they were at the _beach_ and he’d never seen a beach before. “ _Wow_ ,” he breathed to himself. He wished it was brighter so he could make things out even better.  
  
“Yes, well,” Ignis coughed, and he sounded amused, “eat your supper before it gets cold.”  
  
“Oh! Right.” Noctis looked down at his food. There were some sort of meat drumsticks on his plate, and it tasted _so good_ when he bit into one that he couldn’t stop the happy noise that came out of him, and he focused more on the food instead of the stars for a while, smiling to himself as he dug in.  
  
  
  
-  
  
  
  
It was so weird, sleeping inside the tent with the three of them, but at least it was warm and comfortable, and they didn’t seem to mind giving him one of the few blankets and pillows to use so he could curl up and snuggle. It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep, his belly full of those delicious drumsticks and feeling almost soothed by the sound of the three of them talking quietly.  
  
When he woke up, sunlight was lighting up the walls of the tent and there was an alarm going off somewhere. He could hear Gladio and Prompto yawning and groaning as they woke. Noctis stretched under his blanket, then pulled it up to his chin, watching as they slowly sat up.  
  
Ignis was already awake and sitting up, smiling at him when he noticed Noctis watching. “Good morning,” he said.  
  
“Mmhm,” Noctis mumbled, then yawned, rubbing at his eyes with his hand.  
  
“Damn, he’s awake with the alarm?” Prompto said around another yawn. “Kid Noct wakes up better than big Noct.”  
  
“So he’s still the same, huh,” Gladio said as he peered around Prompto to look at Noctis, giving him a small nod when their eyes met. He looked big and scary, but there was something soft and warm when he looked at Noctis.  
  
“So it would seem,” Ignis said. “It might be a long shot, but perhaps the marshal will have some advice for us. Surely in all his years of experience, he’s come across something similar to this.”  
  
Gladio snorted, running his hands over his face. “Sure gonna love trying to explain this one to Cor.”  
  
Noctis perked up at the name, pushing himself up into a sitting position, wrapping the blanket around him so he could stay warm.  
  
“Yeah, this is gonna be fun,” Prompto was saying. He glanced Noctis’s way and a strange, amused smile tugged on his lips. “Oh my god, the _bed_ hair! It’s even more adorable now.”  
  
The bed hair? Noctis touched a hand to his head, trying to flatten down his messy hair as best as he could, watching curiously as the three of them crowded around Ignis’s phone as he held it out. A ringing noise came from the speaker, filling the silence between them.  
  
“It’s kinda early,” Prompto said. “He’ll be awake, right?”  
  
“Does he even sleep?” Gladio asked.  
  
As if to answer them, the ringing noise cut off and a deep, familiar voice answered. “ _Hello? Ignis?_ ”  
  
Good morning, marshal,” Ignis said. “We’re sorry to disturb you, I know it’s a little early.”  
  
“ _Don’t worry about it, I’ve been awake for some time_.”  
  
“Forever,” Prompto whispered, and Gladio smirked, reaching out with his hand to shove him a little. Noctis covered his mouth with his blanket, feeling his lips twitching.  
  
Ignis was glaring at them all before he lowered his eyes back to the phone. “In that case, we’re in need of some advice. We’ve ran into a little...not _trouble_ per se, but some unusual circumstances.”  
  
“ _Don’t beat around the bush, Ignis. What’s going on?_ ”  
  
“Noct’s a kid,” Prompto blurted out.  
  
“ _I beg your pardon?_ ”  
  
“He isn’t joking, I’m afraid,” Ignis sighed. “We were in the middle of a hunt last night, facing off against a lamia, and I’m guessing one of her attacks must have transformed him into a younger version of himself. We thought it might wear off overnight, but he’s still the same.”  
  
Silence on the other end. Noctis bit at his lip, looking around at the others, but they were all watching the phone and waiting.  
  
“You don’t believe us, do you?” Prompto said eventually, his hand reaching out and smacking against Gladio’s shoulder. “He doesn’t believe us! Here, I’ll show you.” He pulled his phone off the tent floor, pointing it at Noctis and, before he could do anything to hide his face with the blanket or hold his hands up, Prompto was taking a picture of him. “I’m sending you the pic right now,” he said.  
  
A few moments of silence before a heavy sigh came from the other end of the phone. “ _Huh,_ ” Cor said. “ _Well, this is unexpected_.”  
  
Gladio scoffed. “You don’t say.”  
  
“ _Your Highness?_ ”  
  
Noctis paused a little, then shuffled closer to the others, taking the blanket away from his mouth so he could say, “Hi Cor.”  
  
“So,” Ignis said, “do you know of any solutions to our current problem? Is there a particular remedy to this?”  
  
“ _It depends. What sort of daemon did you say you were hunting again?_ ”  
  
“A daemon!” Noctis exclaimed, looking at each of them, alarm shooting through him. Is that what had been making all the noise last night? Was that what they had been fighting against? “Daemons are real?”  
  
“Yep, afraid so,” Gladio murmured, leaning closer so he could speak to Noctis. “They’re not just stories to scare kids into going to sleep at night.”  
  
Prompto groaned. “Yeah, dude, because that’s a _great_ thing to tell a kid.”  
  
Ignis let out a sigh. “A lamia. We were fighting a lamia.”  
  
“ _Ah, then that explains it_ ,” Cor answered. “ _A lamia’s primary source of food is human children and, since they’re not always readily available, it’ll transform the nearest adult into one for convenience._ ”  
  
Noctis stared at them with wide eyes, a cold shudder running through him. “That thing—it was gonna _eat_ me?”  
  
“Hey, don’t worry,” Prompto said. “We got her. We killed it.”  
  
“ _We_ killed it,” Gladio said, glaring at him. “You ran off.”  
  
“Hey, I was protecting the _kid_ , like I was _told_ to do.”  
  
Cor cut in before they could continue. “ _Did the lamia hit him with a liquid-type substance?_ ”  
  
Ignis nodded. “Yes, exactly that.”  
  
“ _Yeah, it’s the liquid that transforms you into a child, but it’s not permanent. It shouldn’t last for more than a day, maybe two at the most._ ”  
  
“Well, that’s something at least.”  
  
“ _I assume he has no memory, then?_ ”  
  
“That’s correct,” Ignis said, glancing up at Noctis. “Well, he _does_ , but he can only remember his life from his current age, which is eight.”  
  
There was a small pause before Cor spoke again. “ _I see. I highly doubt he’ll remember anything when he turns back to his normal self, but there is still every need for caution at the moment if you want to handle things well._ ”  
  
Ignis shared a strange look with Prompto and Gladio then before he nodded. “We understand. Thank you, marshal.”  
  
“ _Get in touch if he hasn’t transformed back in a few days, or if any other complications arise, and I’ll look into it for you_.”  
  
“Thanks Cor!” Prompto said.  
  
With the phone call over, they all sat in silence, and Noctis bit at his lip, picked at the blanket still wrapped around him, wondering what Cor meant when he said that stuff about handling things well. And with the look they had all given each other, it was a little strange.  
  
“So, what’s the plan?” Gladio said eventually. “It’s not like we can take him out on jobs, and I don’t like the idea of leaving him with someone.”  
  
“Well, it _is_ Saturday,” Prompto said. He stretched his arms over his head, groaning lightly, before letting them drop and grinning at them. “How about we just have a chill weekend while he’s like this?”  
  
Gladio made a face, like he was thinking about it, then smirked at Ignis. “That okay with you, though, Iggy? Gotta be a hard decision for you.”  
  
Ignis glared back at him. “I _do_ know how to relax and have fun, thank you very much.” He turned to Noctis then, his eyes softening. “What do you think, Noct?”  
  
Noctis shrugged, picking at the blanket again, keeping his eyes on his fingers. It seemed like something they should decide, and he didn’t really want to make a big fuss or get in the way of anything. Besides, he had a bigger problem to deal with now, and he was hoping they would make their decision soon so he could deal with it.  
  
“Hey, don’t be afraid to speak up, okay?” Gladio said. “If you wanna do something, then we’ll do it.”  
  
Noctis huffed and kept his eyes to the side so he wouldn’t have to look at them. “I _really_ need to go to the bathroom,” he mumbled.  
  
They were quiet for a moment, stunned, and Noctis could feel his cheeks getting warm as they stared. Then Prompto let out a chuckle, saying, “Oh boy, okay. C’mon bud, let’s get you sorted out first before we make any big plans.”  
  
Ignis nodded. “Indeed.”  
  
  
  
-  
  
  
  
The beach was beautiful. He hadn’t been able to see it well last night since it had been so dark past the campsite, but he could see it now that it was morning, and it was so big and so blue, and _pretty_. It sparkled when the sunlight hit it, like diamonds, and the sky was pretty too, the way it stretched on and on without any buildings in the way and without the large wall blocking any view of the horizon.  
  
He wasn’t really allowed to leave the campsite until Ignis came back with some new clothes he had bought over at the resort, and Noctis changed into them quickly. Ignis took away his bigger clothes while he pulled on the others; grey cargo shorts, a light blue t-shirt and some sandals.  
  
“It was all they had,” Ignis said when Noctis scrunched his nose up at the shoes. “This _is_ a seaside resort, after all.”  
  
Well at least they were the kind with straps over his feet and around his ankles, so they would stay on even if he started running.  
  
He took them off anyway, left them lying on the sand next to him as he laid on his back, his arms and legs spread, staring up at the bright blue sky above. It was early in the morning but it was already so warm, but not in the stuffy way that Insomnia was. And it was so peaceful, with the waves moving up and down against the sand, seagulls singing as they flew above.  
  
He wondered if his dad had ever been to the beach before. If he hadn’t, then he was definitely missing out. Noctis found himself smirking, wondering what his dad would be like, if he would sunbathe, if he would make sandcastles.  
  
Oh, _that_ was a great idea. He had never made a sandcastle before. He wondered if he could make the Citadel.  
  
Noctis quickly sat up, curling his legs up underneath himself, reaching out and gathering the sand with his hands, raking it towards him so he had a big pile. It couldn’t be too hard, right? It was just two straight buildings.  
  
The others were off to the side talking together, about a few ‘grown-up things’, but it wasn’t long before Prompto was coming over and plonking down next to him on the sand, crossing his legs. “Hey bud! Whatcha doin’?”  
  
Noctis glanced up at him. “Trying to make the Citadel. But it’s pretty hard.”  
  
Prompto smiled a little. “Want me to help?”  
  
Noctis stared, and he couldn’t help but smile back. “Sure.”  
  
“Oh, yeah!” Prompto clenched his hand into a fist, shaking it a little. “We’re gonna make the best damn sand Citadel there is.”  
  
It was a lot easier with the two of them working on it. Noctis took one building while Prompto took the other. It didn’t turn out _quite_ like the Citadel, and they didn’t have any way to join the buildings at the top, but it was just nice to actually play with the sand and to listen to Prompto’s funny stories of the two of them and their little adventures back in the city.  
  
“So, we’re friends?” Noctis asked after a while.  
  
Prompto grinned at him. “Hell yeah. We’re really good friends.”  
  
Noctis found himself smiling again, feeling warm and pleased. “I’m glad,” he said. He already had Ignis, and Ignis was a good friend, but it was also nice to know that there were others who wouldn’t stare at him weird or act funny around him, they would just treat him as _Noctis_ and not the prince.  
  
He sat back and watched with a grin as Prompto took pictures of their sand-Citadel. He even went as far as laying as flat as he could on the sand, coughing and spluttering, yelling out, “Oh god, I’ve got sand in my mouth but this is such a good shot! Hashtag _worth it_!”  
  
They went down to the water afterwards, and Noctis couldn’t resist, he dipped his feet into it and found himself laughing at how cold it was. He got Prompto to join in, who rolled his eyes, left his boots on the sand and shoved up the legs of his pants, and they kicked the water around together, being careful not to splash each other too much.  
  
“Hey, hey, look,” Prompto leaned closer to him, pointing at something in the water. “See the fish?”  
  
“Oh, cool,” Noctis smiled when he noticed the shapes swimming around beneath the surface. He glanced up at Prompto. “There aren’t any sharks, are there? Will they be okay?”  
  
Prompto grinned down at him. “They’ll be fine, don’t worry. There aren’t any sharks.”  
  
“That’s good.”  
  
“If you two are done,” Gladio called out as he and Ignis came closer, staying just on the edge of the sand, “then we should really get moving now.”  
  
“Aww,” Noctis let out before could stop himself, then clapped a hand over his mouth.  
  
Prompto laughed from beside him, leaning down again so he could sling an arm around Noctis’s shoulders. “Well, I think you’ll like where we’re going next. You ever seen a chocobo before? In real life?”  
  
Noctis stared up at him. “No,” he murmured, his mouth pulling up into a grin. “Are gonna see some chocobos? For real?”  
  
“We sure are.”  
  
He’d never seen a chocobo before, only in books and cartoons on television. He grinned over at Ignis and Gladio, already feeling jumpy with excitement, but he also didn’t want to leave the beach just yet, it was just so pretty and he’d never been to one before and he just wanted it to last a little longer. “Can we stay a few more minutes?” he asked, looking over at Ignis and Gladio. “Please?”  
  
“Oh boy,” Gladio muttered, staring at him strangely.  
  
Ignis cleared his throat. “A few more minutes.”  
  
  
  
-  
  
  
  
They played for a little longer, still careful not to splash each other as Ignis seemed to be very worried about getting the car wet once they left, so Noctis just had his fun with watching the fish, kicking at the water, and watching Prompto take pictures with his camera. He even let Noctis have a go, and they took some zoomed in pictures of the fish, the palm trees, the people over at the resort, Prompto muttering to him the whole time, talking like they were watching some documentary through the camera.  
  
Ignis had a spare towel from _somewhere_ , which, really, wasn’t a huge surprise since he was just _Ignis_ even if he was a grown up, and so they could dry their feet and get rid of the sand before they hopped into the car.  
  
And it was the Regalia, it was _his dad’s_ car, one of his most favourite places in the world, and if he hadn’t been so sure that they were good guys that he could trust before, then he was definitely sure now.  
  
“Your father was gracious enough to allow us to borrow it while we were out here,” Ignis said when Noctis asked why they had the car with them. “He said she’d keep us safe on the road.”  
  
“She will!” Noctis grinned, leaning back in the seat, stroking his hands along the familiar leather. “She’s kept my dad safe before.” He listened as the engine came to life, watching curiously as Ignis slowly drove out of the parking spot. Noctis peered back over at the beach, at the ocean, at the people back up on the docks. He turned back in his seat, looking at the back of Ignis’s head. “Hey, can we call my dad?”  
  
Ignis cleared his throat after a second or two. “I’m afraid not. We’re—not in range enough to connect a call to the Citadel. We’d have to go all the way back to the city if we’d wish to speak with him.”  
  
“Oh,” Noctis blinked. “But you called Cor.”  
  
“Cor’s out here somewhere,” Prompto turned in his seat up front to smile at him. “You know, off doing Crownsguard stuff. Secret missions and all that.”  
  
Oh, that made sense then. Noctis fought back the slight disappointment. He would have liked to have talked to his dad, to tell him all about the beach and the fun they had there, but they probably wouldn’t have been able to get through to him anyway. He was always so busy ruling the kingdom after all.  
  
Well, at least he wasn’t on his own out here and he still had people to talk to. And they were nice, they didn’t treat him the same way all the other servants and Crownsguard people did.  
  
Noctis was practically leaning over his door as they continued to drive, and he _loved_ the way the wind whipped through his hair, and all of the different smells and sights. There was so much to see, so many different things instead of building after building, and everything was so _bright_. He had to shield his eyes with one of his hands so he could see everything better.  
  
When they pulled up at a motel, Noctis climbed out of the car and stretched his arms up above his head. He walked around the Regalia, to where Prompto was standing and leaning back against his door, clicking through the pictures on his camera. “Where are we?” Noctis asked him. “Are we here to see the chocobos?”  
  
“Hmm?” Prompto looked down at him. “Oh, no, we’ve come here for our reward. We’re going to the chocobos _after_.”  
  
Noctis frowned. “Reward for what?”  
  
“For killing that daemon last night. You know, the lamia? We get jobs where we have to kill big ugly things that are dangerous or causing trouble, and we get money for that.”  
  
“Oh,” Noctis watched as Ignis crossed the road over to the other building, the Crow’s Nest. It had some weird bird statue sitting outside, and it sort of looked like it was staring at him. It was creepy. “So are you guys heroes or something?”  
  
“No,” Prompto chuckled. “We just need money for things. For food and stuff. We know how to fight, so taking monster hunts is a pretty quick way to get some cash.”  
  
Noctis thought about it, leaning back against the car next to Prompto, watching as Ignis disappeared inside the Crow’s Nest and Gladio walked over to some of the trucks waiting outside, talking to one of the women standing there.  
  
He wanted to ask more, but he didn’t want to be much of a bother. It was a little obvious anyway. They must have been on some sort of adventure, like the one his dad had gone on years ago, the one where he had left the city and had come out here past the Wall. He hadn’t said much about it, but he sometimes told him stories when Noctis was going to bed at night, and he talked about fighting monsters and seeing giant turtles made out of rocks and a mountain that always had smoke coming from it.  
  
And now _he_ was apparently on an adventure just like that. It sounded pretty cool.  
  
He could smell something _delicious_ coming from the Crow’s Nest, and it made his stomach growl a little. “What’s that smell?” he asked.  
  
“Diner food,” Prompto answered, pocketing his camera and smiling down at him. “Smells good, huh?”  
  
Noctis nodded, looking back towards the diner. “Uh-huh.”  
  
“Oh man,” Prompto muttered. “Come on.”  
  
“What?” Noctis watched as he pushed away from the car, crossing the road once it was clear. “Wait, Prompto!” Noctis ran after him, looking both ways before he crossed the road, chasing after Prompto as he headed towards the diner just as Ignis was coming out.  
  
Ignis raised an eyebrow at them. “And just where are you two going?”  
  
“Uh—” Prompto scratched at the back of his head, smiling a little like he was embarrassed. “I was gonna get him some fries or something. I bet he’s never had diner food before, right?”  
  
Both of Ignis’s eyebrows went up this time. “No, he certainly hasn't. Not at this age.” He peered over at Noctis. “Noct, you just had breakfast only a few hours ago.”  
  
Now that they were closer, standing by the open doorway, he could smell the food a lot better, and _wow_ he had never smelled anything like it before. “I know,” he said after a moment. He _had_ eaten breakfast after all, and it had been more of Ignis’s good food, so he shouldn’t really be so hungry so quickly, but it just smelled so _good_ it was making his mouth water a little and his stomach growled a little louder.  
  
Ignis was staring at him with a weird look. “Goodness,” he said, then rolled his eyes. “Fine, let’s get an early lunch then, shall we?”  
  
The food _was_ good. Noctis had a whole plate of fries to himself, and he could dip them in some sauce, and they were so yummy he couldn’t stop grinning as he ate, swinging his legs on the booth seat and watching the cars and trucks outside drive past every now and then.  
  
“You really like that food, huh?” Gladio chuckled from where he sat opposite him.  
  
Noctis paused, realising they were watching him as they ate their own food, and he shrugged, feeling a little embarrassed. “I’ve never been in a diner before,” he said. “And this stuff is _so_ tasty.”  
  
“It may taste nice, but it’s not exactly healthy for you,” Ignis said.  
  
Noctis chomped on another fry, dipping the end into his sauce. “But it’s _tasty_. How can things that taste good not be good for you?”  
  
“The cruelest thing in the world,” Prompto muttered.  
  
Gladio snorted. “Quit your moping and eat up. We’re on a schedule, remember.”  
  
Noctis looked up at him, then glanced at Prompto. He hoped he hadn’t ruined their plans by wanting the food. “We’re still going to see the chocobos, right?”  
  
“Hell yeah,” Prompto nudged him with his elbow. “I didn’t spend ten minutes haggling with Iggy over it just to let you down. You’re gonna love it, man. You can pet them and feed them and _ride_ them—”  
  
Noctis stared at him, pausing when he was just about to bite into his next fry. “Ride them?”  
  
Prompto nodded, grinning. “Oh yeah. You can ride them.”  
  
“I’m suddenly sorely regretting this idea,” Ignis muttered.  
  
Gladio chuckled. “Don’t worry, we’ll be there to keep the kids in check.”  
  
  
  
-  
  
  
  
Noctis felt like he was going to explode when they pulled up at the Chocobo Post. He could hear them already, loud, almost high pitched, squawks and cries, and he could see them from where Ignis parked the Regalia. It took everything in Noctis not to just jump out and run over as soon as he could.  
  
There were little babies too, little fat golden chicks that were just wandering around the whole place, and he just _had_ to stop walking to say hello to the first one he came across, reaching out to gently stroke along its soft body. It cocked its head from side to side, blinking up at him, letting out soft, tiny squeaks.  
  
“They’re so cute!” Noctis said when Prompto bent down next to him.  
  
“I think this one likes you, buddy,” Prompto said.  
  
Noctis grinned. “You think so?”  
  
“Sure do.” Prompto gently grabbed his wrist, tugging on him a little. “Come on, let’s go see the big ones! You’re gonna love them.”  
  
“Okay,” Noctis nodded. He bent down a little closer to the chick, smiling as it blinked up at him again. He gave it a small wave with his free hand. “Bye!”  
  
Gladio and Ignis were off near the tables, talking to some man. They were all watching Noctis as he and Prompto went by, so he gave them a wave too, grinning when Ignis and Gladio both waved back.  
  
“Is that who I think it is?” the man was asking.  
  
“Yup,” Gladio said. “It’s a _long_ story, don’t ask.”  
  
Prompto pulled him over to the chocobos standing in their pens, and Noctis could only stare up at them, his heart hammering in his chest. They were so _big_ , and so fluffy, feathers sticking out everywhere. They shook their heads and bodies like dogs trying to shake off rain, letting out loud squawks as they looked around.  
  
“Aren’t they cool?” Prompto said. “You wanna pet one?”  
  
He did, but those beaks looked really big and sharp. “Do they bite?”  
  
Prompto shook his head. “No way. And if it does, I’ll punch it in its face for you.”  
  
“No, _don’t_ punch the chocobo!” Noctis protested. “That’s not nice.”  
  
Prompto winced, forcing out a chuckle as he glanced around. “ _Yeah_ —uhh—I’m not gonna punch the chocobo! Haha, he’s just joking! This little guy!” He turned back to Noctis with a groan, but he was smiling. “You wanna pet it though?”  
  
“I _do_ , but—” Noctis stepped closer to it, and the chocobo came closer too. It bent its neck a little to look at him.  
  
“Here,” Prompto said. “How about I pick you up? So you can be face to face with it.”  
  
Noctis hesitated. It _did_ sound like a good way to get up close, and Prompto could help him if the chocobo tried to bite him. “Okay,” he nodded. He stepped closer so Prompto could pick him up under his arms, settling him on his hip, and Noctis kept an arm wrapped around his shoulders as they leaned closer to the chocobo.  
  
It seemed to like him. It let out a soft squawk and leaned closer, nudging against his arm.  
  
“Aw,” Prompto said with a grin, “I think it wants a hug.”  
  
Noctis leaned closer, Prompto’s hands holding him up and keeping his body steady as he wrapped his arms around the chocobo’s neck, and he found himself grinning as it leaned into him, resting its soft and heavy head on his shoulder for a moment. “It likes me,” Noctis giggled.  
  
“Oh god, it definitely does!” Prompto laughed. He helped Noctis settle his weight when he leaned back, and he was grinning at him. “How was your first chocobo hug, buddy?”  
  
“It was cool!” Noctis said. Gladio and Ignis were walking up to them, and he waved a hand, grinning. “Did you see? The chocobo let me hug it!”  
  
“Yeah,” Gladio chuckled. “We saw.”  
  
“Ooh, come on,” Prompto said. He was holding onto Noctis with one arm, his other hand digging into his pocket to pull out his camera. “Let’s get a selfie. Come on, guys!”  
  
He turned them so their backs were to the chocobo, holding up the camera to face them. Noctis held his arms around Prompto’s neck, watching as Gladio and Ignis came to stand by them, and he found himself grinning when he could feel the chocobo sticking its head between him and Ignis, its feathers tickling his cheek and neck, its squawk loud in his ear.  
  
The picture was a good one. They were all smiling up at the camera, and the chocobo was in the center, its beak wide open as it stared up at the camera, making it look like it had a huge happy grin on its face.  
  
“That’s a keeper,” Gladio said.  
  
“Sure is!” Prompto chuckled. “So what’d Wiz have to say?”  
  
Gladio held his hand out for the chocobo next to him, waiting patiently until it came forwards and rested its head on his palm. “He said he hasn’t got any young chocobos that can take him, but he can ride on an adult if he’s sitting with one of us. I’m thinkin’ the two of you could fit on one saddle together.”  
  
Prompto nodded, then jostled Noctis a little where he was still sat on his hip. “What do ya say, Noct? Wanna go ride a chocobo?”  
  
  
  
-  
  
  
  
Hugging a chocobo was one thing, riding on one was something _else_. It was scary at first, being lifted up onto the saddle, the sudden _jolt_ as the chocobo took off running when Prompto made it. He thought he would fall off at first, that maybe it would run too quickly and he would bounce off, but Prompto was holding on tight and the chocobo seemed careful not to let them fall. It quickly stopped being scary and instead had him shrieking with laughter as they rode.  
  
He had to sit in the front of the saddle, Prompto right behind him with his arms wrapped around him and holding onto the reins. Noctis held onto them as well, leaning back into Prompto as the chocobo sprinted. It was so _fast_ , he hadn’t ever imagined that they would run so quickly. They could probably race the Regalia at this speed.  
  
Prompto was chuckling behind him. “And we’re gonna jump! Hold on!”  
  
He pulled on the reins and the chocobo was jumping suddenly, squawking as it lifted off the ground, flapping its wings a little. Noctis could only hold on as tight as he could, his heart pounding in his chest, another laugh ripping from his lungs.  
  
To their left, Ignis’s chocobo jumped high in the air. To their right, Gladio was running past them on his own chocobo, saluting as he went. “See you slow pokes later.”  
  
“No way!” Prompto yelled. He nudged Noctis with his elbow, pointing off to the side. “Hey, should we jump off that rock?”  
  
He was already pulling on the reins as he said it, making the chocobo turn in that direction, and Noctis leaned back against his chest, looking up at him briefly. “Can the chocobos fly?”  
  
“Nope,” Prompto said. “But they can _totally_ fall with style. Hold on!”  
  
Noctis held on, sucking in a breath as they ran up the large rock. The chocobo launched off the end, and they were sailing through the air, practically flying right over Gladio. They were up so high in the air, it was _amazing_ , and he joined in when Prompto started yelling and whooping.  
  
When they landed, the chocobo’s feet skidded across the road, and Prompto pulled them to a stop so they could catch their breath back. Noctis leaned around to look up at him. “That—was amazing!”  
  
“I know,” Prompto grinned back at him. “I bet Iggy’s gonna _kill_ me for it though.”  
  
Noctis shrugged, smiling. “Don’t worry. I’m the prince, so _I’m_ the boss, and he has to do whatever I say.”  
  
Prompto’s eyebrows shot up. He looked surprised for a moment, before he let out a laugh and ruffled Noctis’s hair with a hand. “Noct, little man, you’re the best.”  
  
Ignis didn’t seem to mind too much when he and Gladio caught up with them, he just gave Prompto a stern look before they carried on. And there was so much else to see. They showed him giant, pointy rocks that were sticking up out of the ground - the Disc of Cauthess, they called it - and they went past funny, old looking cars - _nothing_ like what Insomnia had - and they even had to stop the chocobos to watch as strange looking animals crossed the road.  
  
“What are they?” Noctis asked.  
  
“Garulas,” Ignis answered. “They’re rather tame despite being wild. They wouldn’t hurt us even if we were to go up close to them, not unless we hurt them first.”  
  
“But I don’t wanna hurt them,” Noctis said.  
  
Prompto chuckled into his hair. “No one’s saying you do. Just don’t punch one, and it’ll probably ignore you.” He sucked in a sharp breath, looking over at Gladio and Ignis. “Hey! _Hey_.”  
  
“Oh no,” Gladio said, “I know that look.”  
  
“It _just_ hit me! We should show him the catoblepas!”  
  
Gladio raised an eyebrow. “We’re supposed to be showing him a good time, not terrify him.”  
  
“Oh, come on, it’s not like they’ll hurt us!” Prompto said. “And we’ll be circling back around anyway to head back to the post, right? So let’s go a different way.”  
  
“Well, it’s up to Noct,” Ignis said.  
  
“How about it, buddy?” Prompto nudged him a little. “You wanna see a _giant_ beast?”  
  
He wasn’t sure,  it sounded a little scary, but Prompto had said that it wouldn’t hurt them. Then again, he had been scared to pet the chocobo at first, and he had been scared to ride one, and both had turned out to be amazing. It would be fun to see more things before the day was over too. “Okay,” he nodded. “It won’t hurt us?”  
  
“No way! The worst that’ll happen to us is that we’ll get super wet.”  
  
Ignis sighed. “And no doubt _I_ will be in charge of laundry.”  
  
Prompto grinned. “Thanks, Iggy!”  
  
“That wasn’t an offer.”  
  
“Too late, you already said it! No backsies!” Prompto tugged on the reins and had the running before Ignis could protest, and Noctis muffled his giggle with his hand. Ignis was probably going to be _so_ mad about that.  
  
He didn’t really know what to expect as they kept running, but once the lake came into view and the chocobos splashed into the water, swimming along just as quickly as they could run, Noctis felt his heart leap in his chest. There were two of them, one lazing around in the water and the other slowly walking along, dipping its head with low, growling noises that echoed around them.  
  
“They’re so big!” Noctis cried out. He looked up at Prompto. “Are you sure they won’t hurt us? They won’t eat us?”  
  
“Of _course_ they won’t,” Prompto smiled. “It’s all good, dude.”  
  
“Magnificent beasts,” Ignis said. They were leading their chocobos closer, so close that Ignis could stretch his arm out and stroke his finger along one of the creature’s legs.  
  
“I’d hate to think how big their babies are,” Gladio chuckled.  
  
Prompto groaned. “Not a topic I wanna get into, thanks.”  
  
Their chocobos swam closer and under the long neck of one of the catoblepas. It was like passing under a bridge it was so big, and Noctis watched in amazement, listening to its strange, echoing noises as it bent its head to drink some of the water. They were closer to its face now, so he was able to see the weird snout nose and the tusks and the floppy hair.  
  
They were _amazing_ , like something off one of his cartoons or out of a book or one of his dad’s bedtime stories. They had nothing like any of these animals back in Insomnia. This thing was probably bigger than some of the buildings, it was so tall, they wouldn’t even be able to keep it in a zoo or anything.  
  
The catoblepas lifted its head a little, letting out a huge breath their way. Noctis scrunched his face up at the smell that wafted over them, unable to keep from laughing. “I think it needs to brush its teeth,” he said.  
  
Prompto laughed. “Yeah! Hey, catoblepas! Brush your teeth!”  
  
Gladio was rolling his eyes. “Come on, time to head back. It’ll be getting dark soon.”  
  
Noctis waved at the catoblepas. “Bye! Have fun drinking your water!”  
  
He leaned back against Prompto as they started on the journey back to the Chocobo Post. They had the chocobos walking this time, and it was much more relaxing, more calm. Noctis let his head rest back against Prompto’s shoulder and just took in the sights around them, watching as the sky slowly turned into a pastel orange. He thought he saw something flying in the sky at one point, a distant black shape, but when he pointed it out they simply said it wasn’t anything interesting.  
  
“You’re not falling asleep on me, are you?” Prompto murmured after a while.  
  
He had been. His eyes felt too heavy, and it was so soothing just sitting back and watching everything go by slowly. Noctis rubbed at his eyes and shook his head. “Uh-uh,” he mumbled.  
  
Prompto’s chuckle was quiet next to his ear. “Just hold on a little longer, okay bud?”  
  
“‘Kay,” Noctis murmured. He tilted his head so he could look up at his face. “Today was awesome.”  
  
Prompto nodded. “Good. I’m so glad you had fun.”  
  
He had _definitely_ had a lot of fun. It had probably been one of the best days in his life, right up there next to when his dad had taken him out into the city in the Regalia, just the two of them, with the roof down and the wind in their hair and ice cream in their hands.  
  
When they got back to the post, Ignis made him change into a spare t-shirt and boxer shorts from his bag. Prompto had been right, their little adventure through the lake to see the catoblepas had gotten their clothes all wet, so Noctis gave them up for dry ones. Since they were apparently for _big_ him, that meant they were a little loose and the t-shirt was more of a dress on him, but they seemed okay as pyjamas as long as he was careful the shorts didn’t fall down.  
  
They had more of Ignis’s food. Noctis tried not to act too excited as they sat at the table outside the caravan, but he figured Ignis knew how he felt anyway from the way he smiled when he handed Noctis his plate of meat skewers. It was still so funny and amazing. Who knew Ignis would be such a great cook when he was older?  
  
The sky was slowly darkening by the time they finished up. The chocobos were still squawking in their pens, the chicks still walking around, and Noctis had to wonder when they would be going to sleep. Did chocobos have dreams? He hoped the one he rode today would have good dreams.  
  
Ignis made him head into the caravan to brush his teeth before bed, and Noctis only agreed to do it when Prompto promised they could play some more games on his phone for a little while. So he hurried up as quickly as he could in the bathroom, nearly knocking into Gladio afterwards as he rushed out and dashed towards the lower bunk bed that Prompto would be sleeping in, laying down next to him and shuffling closer so he could watch the screen.  
  
He must have fallen asleep at some point, because the next thing he knew Prompto was nudging Noctis’s head with his shoulder, saying, “Noct, come on, time to get into bed.”  
  
“No,” Noctis moaned, snuggling closer. “Don’t wanna move.”  
  
A pause, and then Prompto snorted. “Oh my god, seriously? We’re doing this again?” He nudged at him again, chuckling when Noctis only flung an arm over his chest and shifted to get a little more comfortable. “Come on, _Noctopus_ , you begged for the top bunk, so go and sleep in it.”  
  
“S’comfy here.”  
  
Prompto sighed heavily, but he didn’t put up a fight after that, and he really didn’t sound too bothered about it anyway.  
  
  
  
-  
  
  
  
When he woke up, he was alone in the tiny bedroom, curled up under the blanket on Prompto’s bed. The curtains were open and he could hear the birds singing outside, as well as the cries of the chocobos over in their pens, and the sound was enough to remind him of the day before. He grinned to himself as he thought about it; the time they spent on the beach, the diner food, playing with the chocobos. It was such a cool adventure, he hardly wanted it to end.  
  
And the guys were cool too. Big Ignis was just like _his_ Ignis only grown up and taller and stronger, Gladio was funny and not as strict as he thought his own Shield would be, and Prompto was _fun_ , Prompto treated him like they were best friends instead of like he was the prince.  
  
Noctis stretched and decided to get up. His actual clothes were there, clean and dry and folded into a neat pile on the other bottom bunk bed. He changed his clothes and went to the bathroom to quickly brush his teeth.  
  
Once he was finished, he paused near the main door to grab his sandals, and he could hear Gladio’s voice drifting through from outside. He sounded amused as he said, “Still, this has to be killing you.”  
  
“Not really,” Prompto answered. “Come on, have you seen his face? He’s _adorable_. You can’t stay mad about that. _And_ he saved my hide.”  
  
“We’re _always_ savin’ your hide.”  
  
“You are _not_.”  
  
Noctis rolled his eyes as he did up his sandals. And they called _him_ a kid. They seemed to get into little arguments like that a lot. It was so silly, and so _funny_ , since they were supposed to be the grown ups here.  
  
When he jumped down the caravan steps, they both turned towards him with smiles. “Hey, kiddo,” Prompto called. “Have a good sleep?”  
  
“Yup!” Noctis jumped from the last step, closing the gap and landing in front of them with a small grunt, waving once he was standing up straight again. “Hi.”  
  
Gladio grinned down at him. “Sup.”  
  
Noctis peered around them, looked towards the chairs and the table, but he couldn’t see Ignis anywhere. “Where’s Iggy?”  
  
“Who knows,” Prompto said. “Off doing Ignis things. But nevermind that, I’ve got a surprise for you.”  
  
Noctis looked back at him, only then noticing that Prompto had his hands hidden behind his back. He could already feel his lips pulling upwards in a grin as he tried to sneak a peek. “Really? What is it?”  
  
Prompto brought his right hand around to the front of his body, holding up a soccer ball. “Ta-da,” he said, then he tossed it up into the air and towards Noctis.  
  
“Oh, cool!” Noctis caught it with both hands. “I’ve got one like this at home!”  
  
“Yeah, but you don’t have one out here,” Prompto said. “Whaddya say? Wanna play a little while?”  
  
Noctis grinned. “Sure!”  
  
That’s how Ignis found them a little while later, kicking the soccer ball around the area near the caravan. They had taken the chairs and had set them up as goal posts, and Gladio was tasked with trying to stop Noctis and Prompto from scoring a goal. Which wasn’t _fair_ , not really, since he was so big.  
  
When Noctis kicked the ball a little too hard, and it went flying towards Ignis, he caught it easily, watching them with raised eyebrows. “What _are_ you doing?”  
  
Noctis smiled up at him, resisting the urge to scuff his foot along the ground. “Playing soccer.”  
  
“Where did the ball come from?”  
  
“Oh,” Prompto pointed over his shoulder, towards where the chocobos and the main building was, “I got it from the gift shop inside. Come on, don’t give me that look. It was only, like, two gil. Okay, maybe five.”  
  
Ignis smiled down at Noctis and tossed the ball back to him. “It’s not unlike the one we’ve played with before.”  
  
“Yeah, I know!” Noctis said. They’d had fun with it too, apart from the times they had been caught playing with it inside and had gotten into trouble for it. “Wanna play with us? Please?”  
  
Ignis stared at him for a moment, then let out a sigh. “Go on, then.”  
  
It was so much better playing with other people. Sure, he and Ignis had fun before, but it was so much better with the four of them, teasing each other and trying to shove each other out of the way. Noctis was pretty sure pushing was against the rules, but it was funny when Gladio yanked him off the ground and lifted him into the air before he could score his goal, and it was even funnier later when he ducked under Gladio’s legs to escape Ignis and nearly had them crashing into each other.  
  
He liked how they didn’t go _too_ easy on him. They weren’t just simply letting him win because he was a kid or because he was the prince. And they also liked to show off for him, doing ridiculous flips and jumps and kicks that had him keeling over and breathless with laughter.  
  
Ignis was the one to win the most - and the last - goals, his final kick making the ball shoot fast through the chair-posts and flying off into the trees. Prompto had to go running for it so it wouldn’t get lost.  
  
“So, what do you guys wanna do now?” he asked once he came back, tossing the ball up into the air repeatedly.  
  
Gladio was staring down at his phone. “I’m gonna regret mentioning this, but apparently there’s some festival happening at Lestallum today. Some chocobo-moogle-cactuar mashup thing.”  
  
“Are you _kidding_ me?” Prompto stared at him, mouth dropping open. “Hell _yeah_ I wanna go to that!”  
  
“Well it’s not about _you_ , is it?” Gladio shot back.  
  
“It certainly sounds...interesting,” Ignis said. He came closer to Noctis, resting a hand on his shoulder. “What do you think, Noct? Would you like to go and see the festival?”  
  
Noctis nodded. “Yeah, sounds like fun.”  
  
“Yes, _thank you_ ,” Prompto grinned. “You’re the _best_.”  
  
Noctis smiled back and shrugged.  
  
Gladio was chuckling, still staring down at the phone in his hands, tapping on the screen. “Iris is helping out at the Leville for the festival. She’s gonna flip out once she lays eyes on you, Noct, just so you know.”  
  
“Oh _no_!” Prompto laughed. “Now _this_ we’ve definitely gotta see.”  
  
  
  
-  
  
  
  
Lestallum was the first really busy place they had shown him. It wasn’t busy like Insomnia was, but he loved it anyway. He loved the different shaped buildings they had, all the outdoor food stalls, the amazing view it had of the land beyond, not to mention the different things going on for the festival. There were banners hanging everywhere, posters on so many walls, rows of game or souvenir stalls.  
  
But because it was really busy, with so many people walking around, Noctis almost felt like he’d get lost and separated from the others if he just walked a little slower. It was a little frightening, although mostly since he could hardly see past all of the people. He looked up at Gladio, who seemed to be the biggest person on the planet, and he tugged on his wrist.  
  
“What?” Gladio looked down at him instantly. “You okay?”  
  
Noctis bit on his lip, then said, “Can I get on your back? I can’t see anything.”  
  
Gladio paused, then snorted in amusement, turning around and crouching down. “Sure, kid, hop on.”  
  
He jumped on instantly, wrapping his arms around Gladio’s neck and his legs around his waist, and, _yes_ , this was so much better, he was higher up now and able to get a better view of everything. He caught Prompto smirking and taking a photograph of them with his camera, so Noctis stuck his tongue out at him.  
  
They were slowly making their way through all the little alleys and streets, heading towards the hotel they would be staying at for the night, but Noctis managed to convince them all to stop at a few stalls to try a game or two or whenever he wanted to look at a souvenir. And even though he just wanted to look - he didn’t want them to waste their money on him, that would be _rude_ \- they ended up buying him things anyway, from a white t-shirt with the festival characters on it, to a white cap with white cactuar arms sticking out of the sides and a silly shocked face on the front, to sunglasses that were green on one side and yellow on the other, chocobo wings sticking out of the corners.  
  
They looked so cute and _dorky_ and he loved them all, so Noctis insisted that if _he_ was getting them, then the others had to get them too.  
  
“I ain’t walking around with this stupid cap on,” Gladio said as they continued on. “No way. Not even for you.”  
  
“Okay, sure,” Noctis grinned. He _would_ , Noctis would make sure they all would.  
  
He was set back down onto the ground when they arrived at the hotel, and they were barely through the doors when there was a squeal and a yelled, “Gladdy!”  
  
“Hey, Iris.”  
  
Noctis watched, stepping closer to Prompto, half-hiding behind him when the girl was looking at him. She seemed shocked at first, her mouth dropping open and her eyes going wide, but soon as he was chuckling. “Ohhh boy, what _happened_? What did you guys do?”  
  
“A daemon hunt went kind of sideways,” Prompto said with a shrug. “No big deal, we won, now we’ve just gotta give this little guy some time until he changes back.”  
  
“Aw, you’re gonna change back? Why can’t you stay like this forever?” Iris grinned and bent down to look at him. “Oh, you’re _so_ cute!”  
  
Noctis bit his lip, but it looked like the others wanted him to say something, so he mumbled out, “Hi.”  
  
“He doesn't have any memories of us,” Gladio said. “Well, except from Ignis. Kind of.”  
  
Iris pouted a little, although she was still smiling. “That’s a shame. Well, I’m Iris. Gladio’s my big brother.”  
  
Noctis blinked, then looked at Gladio. “ _He’s_ your brother?” It seemed _ridiculous_. Gladio was so big and scary, but Iris was tiny compared to him, bouncy and cheerful.  
  
Gladio gave him a mock glare. “Hey.”  
  
Iris was grinning again, giggling. “Yup, he’s my brother. And you and me, we go way back. We knew each other as kids.”  
  
Gladio was grinning suddenly, making a funny face at his sister as he said, “Iris here’s a big fan of yours, Noct.”  
  
“Shut up!” Iris glared at him this time, but her face quickly changed into another sweet smile when she turned back to Noctis. “Anyway, I’ve gotta get back to work, and you guys have festival stuff to do, so I won’t keep you. But it was _great_ seeing you, Noct.” Before he could stop her, she was wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pressing her cheek to his, letting out a little squeal.  
  
As she was bouncing away, she stopped and turned suddenly, pointing at the others. “You guys better win him lots of prizes.”  
  
“Hey, we’re already buying him things!” Prompto said.  
  
“Win him _prizes_ , or you’ll hear from me!” She smiled at Noctis again. “Bye, Noct!”  
  
Once they were upstairs and in their hotel room, Noctis leaned back on one of the beds and watched as the others got their things settled in for the night. Then, before he could stop himself, he was blurting out, “Your sister’s kinda weird.”  
  
Gladio chuckled. “Yeah, that’s Iris alright.”  
  
“Don’t get in a fight with her, though,” Prompto said. “Whew! She looks tiny and adorable, but she can _kill_ you in a second.”  
  
Noctis blinked. “Really?”  
  
“She sure can,” Gladio said. “She won’t kill _you_ , though. You get a free pass in just about everything.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
The three of them looked like they were trying to hide smiles, and they were all failing terribly at it. “Let’s just say,” Gladio said eventually, “She really likes big you. A lot.”  
  
Noctis frowned, and he felt like he wasn’t getting it, especially when their smiles only grew bigger. Prompto eventually chuckled and sat down next to him on the bed, flicking the side of his head. “As in _like_ likes big you.”  
  
“Oh,” Noctis blinked at that. Iris _liked_ liked big him? As in— “ _Oh_! Ew! Gross.”  
  
Prompto let out a rather loud laugh at that, and even Ignis was chuckling. “A little tact, Noct.”  
  
“That’s my little sister,” Gladio grinned. “Don’t call her gross.”  
  
“Sorry,” Noctis smiled back, his face feeling hotter the more they laughed at him. “It’s just— _ew_. Girls.”  
  
Prompto snorted, his lips pressed together like he was fighting back another laugh. “What? You don’t want yourself a girlfriend when you’re older?”  
  
Noctis’s face felt even hotter. “No!”  
  
Prompto reached out and shoved his shoulder, grinning again. “That’s okay. Like anyone would ever wanna date _you_.”  
  
“Hey!” Noctis glared at him. “Have _you_ got a girlfriend?”  
  
“No,” Prompto was making that face again, his lips pressed tightly together like he was trying not to laugh. “No, I haven’t.”  
  
Noctis grinned at him, feeling smug, and shoved him back. “Ha! Well I guess no one wants to date _you_ either!”  
  
Prompto couldn’t seem to keep his laugh in then. It came out through his pressed lips, and he shook his head. “I can’t! I _can’t_ ,” he said. “I get first shower!” He quickly disappeared into the bathroom, and Noctis could still hear his laughter even with the door shut and the shower turning on.  
  
Noctis blinked. “What’s so funny?”  
  
Ignis was chuckling. “Never mind,” he said. “Are you going to change into your festival shirt?”  
  
“Oh yeah,” Noctis jumped up off the bed, dashing over to Ignis so he could get his new t-shirt. He caught Gladio smirking at him along the way. “Stop laughing at me! I bet _you_ can’t get a girlfriend either!”  
  
Gladio chuckled at that. “Oh don’t worry, kiddo, there are _plenty_ of girls who wanna date me.”  
  
“Really?” Ignis said flatly. “Where are they?”  
  
Gladio only glared at Ignis, and Noctis muffled his laugh into his new t-shirt.  
  
  
  
-  
  
  
  
The rest of the festival was _so_ much fun, and it was even better when he managed to get the others to wear their own t-shirts, sunglasses and caps along with him. They seemed to love grumbling about it, especially loud enough so he could hear them, but they didn’t take them off. Even Ignis had switched his normal glasses for the sunglasses.  
  
When he managed to get a turn with Prompto’s camera, he made sure to quickly snap some pictures of them all. Gladio’s glare didn’t look anywhere near as scary with the cactuar arms sticking out of his cap.  
  
They let him play on any game he chose. He tried a shooting game where he had to target little signs and balloons with a water gun, and when he didn’t manage to get enough points to win a prize, Prompto took over, blasting down each target until he ended up with the highest score.  
  
And he tried a hammer game, where he had to pick up a toy hammer and smack a metal plate as hard as he could to get the little marker to shoot up the long pole. He ran at it at one point, jumping and slamming the hammer down, but he still only managed to get it up halfway. Gladio took over for him, hitting it with no problem. In fact, he had to be careful not to hit it too hard, and Noctis was pretty sure the game runners handed over the prize so quickly because they were scared Gladio was going to break their stuff with just one hit.  
  
They ate street food, meat on skewers and fried, sliced potatoes on sticks, and even sugary snacks. They watched the live band playing near the center of the town, they watched a small magic act on a nearby street, they pointed and snickered at a giant cactuar mascot getting into a fight with the moogle and chocobo mascots. A lot of people seemed to think it was an actual part of the festival, until they went crashing into the tables and chairs of an outdoor cafe, yelling all kinds of nasty things at each other.  
  
“They do realise there are children here, don’t they?” Ignis remarked as they watched the fight. The moogle was pulling on one of the cactuar’s legs, trying to get it off the chocobo it had in a neck lock.  
  
Prompto snorted, taking pictures of the whole thing. “You gotta give them props for fighting in those things though. They must be so heavy and hot. Oh, hey, Noct, look this way.”  
  
Noctis turned to look, right at Prompto aiming the camera his way with the fight going on behind him. Noctis smirked at the camera, the way Gladio seemed to do, and he gave a thumbs up, making sure his hand wouldn’t get in the way of the fight over his shoulder.  
  
“Nice shot!” Prompto chuckled afterwards, coming closer to ruffle Noctis’s hair.  
  
Noctis grinned, looking away when his cheeks felt warm, and he waited until Prompto had taken a few steps in front of him before he leapt onto his back.  
  
“Oh, _whoa_ , hey!” Prompto flailed. He turned his head to glare back at Noctis, although he didn’t look the slightest bit mad. “ _Noct_.”  
  
Noctis gave him his sweetest smile, wrapping his arms around his neck. “Hi. Can I get on your back?”  
  
Prompto spluttered. “A bit late to be asking!”  
  
Noctis grinned at him. “Thanks!”  
  
They took their best selfie yet, with Prompto holding the camera and gesturing to them, Noctis practically hanging over his shoulder to see the camera, Ignis holding up bunny ears above Noctis’s head, Gladio pulling the stupidest ‘strongman’ pose. It looked even better since they were all wearing their festival gear. Noctis’s hat and sunglasses were a little too big for him, but he wore them anyway. He even wore his prizes, necklaces that hung down to his stomach, a large chocobo charm on one, a cactuar on the other.  
  
When it was getting darker, they took him down to the observation area, pointing out the Disc of Cauthess in the dark. “Hey, wow!” Noctis said. “Is it on fire?”  
  
“It sure is,” Prompto said. “Looks awesome though, right?”  
  
“Yeah!” It really did. Even from this distance, they could see the flames, blue and yellow and orange crawling up the spikes and disappearing into the night sky. A thought hit him then, and he shifted on Prompto’s back. “Hey, it’s nearly been two days, right?”  
  
Ignis looked at him curiously. “Since you transformed? Yes.”  
  
“So, I’ll turn back tonight, right?”  
  
“Well, we’re not certain, but it’s likely.”  
  
Oh well, it was probably for the best. If he was supposed to be big, a grownup like they were, then he _had_ to change back sooner or later, and there wasn’t really anything he could do about it. “Well, if I change back tonight,” he said, picking at Prompto’s t-shirt, “Thanks for letting me have so much fun. This was so _cool_. You guys are awesome!”  
  
“Aw, Noct, dude,” Prompto grinned. Then he lifted his hand and pretended to wipe away a tear. “You’re gonna make me cry.”  
  
Ignis was smiling. “It was our pleasure, Noct.”  
  
“Yeah, you’re not exactly the worst kid to be around,” Gladio said. “Come on, I heard they’re gonna have a fireworks display soon. How about we find the best spot in Lestallum and watch?”  
  
“Can we get ice cream?” Noctis asked. He tightened his arms around Prompto’s neck, staring at Ignis. “Please?”  
  
Ignis rolled his eyes, but he was already nodding with a small smile. “Yes, we can get ice cream. Come on.”  
  
They got him a triple scoop ice cream cone, with sprinkles all over and a little chewy chocobo sweet on the top. Gladio’s idea of the best spot in Lestallum was to climb up some metal steps along the side of a building, eventually getting up onto the roof, taking turns with holding each other’s ice creams so they could climb up.  
  
It really _was_ the best spot though, because they could sit on the edge of the building and look down at all the people and the lights and everything, and they didn’t have to worry about trying to see past other people as the fireworks went off. Noctis could just sit there, between Prompto and Ignis, eating his ice cream and laughing at himself whenever one of the bangs made him jump.  
  
There were so many different shapes too. Chocobos, moogles, cactuars, stars, hearts, in all kinds of colours. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen so many fireworks, and especially not with such a good view. Noctis could only smile up at them, tilting his head to the side so he could rest it on Prompto’s shoulder, eating at his ice cream and listening to the music still drifting up from the streets.  
  
He was scared to turn back to a grown up, he didn’t want this magic to end, but it was nice to know that he would end up having such good friends when he was older. The _best_ of friends.  
  
Noctis sighed and closed his eyes.  
  
Black.  
  
He heard ripping sounds, his feet jerked a little, and something cold touched his nose. He jerked away from it, hissing, then blinked down at the ice cream in his hand.  
  
Below them, someone yelled out in pain. “Ow! What the hell?”  
  
“What is it?” someone else asked.  
  
“Something hit me on the head! Looks like a kid’s shoe.”  
  
“You sure? Looks all torn up to me.”  
  
Gladio, over to his right on the other side of Ignis, started chuckling, which developed into roars of laughter coming deep from his belly. “Your shoes exploded off your feet!”  
  
Noctis’s clothes felt weirdly tight. He looked down at himself, blinking at the too small shorts and t-shirt that had both ripped and were so tight they felt like they were cutting off his blood circulation. “The _hell_ am I wearing?” he barked out.  
  
Gladio peered around Ignis to look at him, only to laugh louder, unashamedly and right at Noctis’s face, quickly pulling his phone out so he could obviously snap a picture. And Noctis was too stunned to stop him, glancing up at Ignis, and— _what_ was _Ignis_ wearing? What was that _hat_?  
  
“You have ice cream on your nose,” Ignis muttered, and _damn him_ , his shoulders were shaking too, _laughing_ at Noctis when he clearly had no idea what was going on.  
  
“Here, lemme see,” Prompto said, sitting on Noctis’s left, and he chuckled when Noctis turned to him. “Yup, you got some right on the end here.”  
  
Noctis scrubbed at his nose, then stared at Prompto. He was wearing the weird stuff too, the t-shirt and the hat. Were those _cactuar_ arms sticking out of it? What the hell was going on? Who said he could wear something _that_ ridiculous looking?  
  
Prompto was still chuckling - like the rest of them, the _traitors_ \- and he leaned closer, pressing a kiss to the side of Noctis’s head. “Welcome back, bud.”  
  


**Author's Note:**

> BONUS SCENE:
> 
> Noctis found a soccer ball in his bag. He frowned down at it, picking it up to inspect it, trying to remember where they might have bought or found it and coming up blank. “Where the hell’d this ball come from?”
> 
> Prompto, in the middle of leaving the hotel room, simply grinned and shrugged exaggeratedly. “Who knows, man. All that junk you keep in the armiger, who knows _what’s_ in there. Ow!” he jumped when the ball smacked him on the back of the head, whipping back around to glare at Noctis.
> 
> Noctis simply whistled innocently, his attention back on the contents of his bag.
> 
> -
> 
> EXTRA BONUS SCENE:
> 
> It was in the dead of night, in the heat of battle with flans and imps surrounding them, when Prompto decided it was the perfect time to yell out, “ _Why_ are you wearing those dorky festival clothes?”
> 
> Gladio had bought him a chocobo-moogle-cactuar festival t-shirt, to replace the tiny ripped one that had to be thrown away. _Don’t want you to feel left out_ , he’d said, with that smug ass grin, and _damn it_ , Noctis was going to make sure they wouldn’t be deprived of the sight.
> 
> So he wore them all. The t-shirt, the sunglasses, the hat with the cactuar arms, the necklaces with the giant chocobo and cactuar charms.
> 
> “Because it’s my ass kicking outfit!” he yelled back, and he yanked the mystery soccer ball out of the armiger, tossing it up into the air and kicking it so hard it went flying like a cannonball, smacking into a flan and causing the daemon to explode into pieces.
> 
> “Goodness!” Ignis exclaimed.
> 
> Noctis grinned. “Yeah, I know. I’m awesome.”
> 
>  
> 
> \---
> 
> NOTES:
> 
> As soon as I saw this prompt, I just had to jump on it. Kid!Noct is absolutely _adorable_ , I simply love writing for him and, admittedly while a little difficult for me (as my writing forte appears to be angst lol), this was a rather fun one to work on. Thank you [Culoniforsx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Culoniforsx) for coming up with such a wonderful prompt (they were all great to be honest, it was so hard to pick one!), and thank you [r3zuri](https://archiveofourown.org/users/r3zuri) for running the [Noctis Fic/Art Exchange](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Noctis_Fic_or_Art_Exchange)!
> 
> Thanks for reading and I'm sorry for any typos! <3
> 
> You can find me at [tumblr](https://ivorydice.tumblr.com).


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